


Her Cruel Blessing

by thefrenchmilitary



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, noah fence but gabriel just forget about emilie and get with nathalie lmao, this season killed me and so did this ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 02:26:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16525547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefrenchmilitary/pseuds/thefrenchmilitary
Summary: Using the peacock miraculous comes with grave consequences, but Nathalie is willing to face them for him.





	Her Cruel Blessing

Nathalie's fingers softly ran over the peacock miraculous still pinned to her suit jacket. It was a jarring feeling, to have the hand that had been warmed by Gabriel's only seconds ago be chilled by the smooth, cold pin. Thinking back on it, she couldn't help but long for his touch. Every moment she managed to make direct, physical contact with him was a blessing.

As she thought about him, her lips parted in what was supposed to be a sigh, but another fit of coughs came instead. This one was stronger than the others, making her double over until her forehead touched her knees. Her hands seemingly moved on their own as they removed the miraculous from her suit jacket and tossed it on the table. The cough instantly became more bearable, allowing her to take in short breaths of air. Once her breathing was stable, she gave the peacock pin a hard look.

_If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here right now._

That miraculous was both a blessing and a curse for Nathalie. Without it, Emilie Agreste never would have succumbed to the state she was currently in. Gabriel never would have taken on his Hawkmoth persona in order to capture Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring. The citizens of Paris never would have been akumatized.

Realizing all this, Nathalie laughed humorlessly to herself. By all accounts, these were all horrible things. People were suffering, but from Nathalie's perspective these were all the blessings the miraculous had granted her. Emilie's comatose state, Gabriel's evil doings, the akumatizations: they were all things that had brought her closer to Gabriel. They were what allowed her to become his right hand and trusted assistant. She never would have been able to reach him if it weren't for the miraculous.

Then again, if it weren't for the miraculous she wouldn't be weakly sitting on the couch fighting off another round of coughing. She was a selfish creature, only seeing the true cruelty of the peacock once it directly affected her. The curse of this particular miraculous wasn't the fact that it had made her ill. No, it was the fact that she knew she'd never be able to part with it. Not as long as Gabriel still needed her. She would gladly let the miraculous wear her down to nothing if it meant she could be of use to the man she loyally served.

Finally mustering the strength to get up, Nathalie took the pin from off the table and placed it in her pocket. Even though her face showed no signs of emotion, her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She had always believed Gabriel would eventually pull off his plan, but she had made a backup plan months ago just in case something went wrong. It was finally time to pull it off.

Her hands shakily opened the safe that housed a book filled with knowledge of all the miraculous and a framed photo of Emilie. Nathalie's lips formed a straight line as she stared at the photo while fishing something out of the inside pocket of her jacket.

Knitting her brows together, she took a final look at the fake peacock miraculous she had crafted. The likeness to the original was uncanny. No one would know this was a decoy. 

She quickly placed it by Emilie's picture and locked the safe before she had the chance to lose her resolve. In all the time she had worked for Gabriel she had never deceived him, but these were desperate times. More than anything she wanted him to be happy.

Once her work by the safe was done, she made her way down to the spot she knew Gabriel would be.

Just as she had predicted, he was staring up at Emilie's mural. Even with his back turned to her, Nathalie could tell he was looking at his wife's image in sorrow; sorrow for losing her and sorrow for once again failing to bring her back.

"You placed the miraculous back in the safe?" Gabriel's voice was even despite the sadness that he felt.

"Yes, sir. Everything is back in its place." She stared at him with a cold, uninterested expression. "Do you need me to get anything for you?"

Ignoring her question, Gabriel gave her one of his own. "How are you feeling? Are you sure you should be up and about so soon?"

She had to swallow down a lump in her throat. "I can assure you that I'm fine. Being up on my feet and working actually helps me deal with the sickness."

Her heart skipped a beat when he turned to look at her. His eyes were filled with concern. "Are you sure? I have no problems with giving you the rest of the day off. Maybe even tomorrow."

"Thank you for the offer sir, but I meant what I said. Working clears my head and makes me feel at ease."

"Very well, if you insist. See to it that Adrien arrives home on time for the charity event."

With that, he turned his back on her once more. Her entire being was screaming to be next to him, but Nathalie knew she could never succumb to her desires. She merely bowed her head down in understanding and left for the limo.

As she walked, the miraculous jostled around in her pocket, reminding her that she would need to start cherishing every second she spent with Gabriel, no matter how small. She guessed she had a few months, or maybe even a year, before her activities as Mayura did her in completely. 

Climbing into the limo, she gave the driver directions to the picnic Adrien was attending. Staring out the window, she began to think about the events in her life that had gotten her to this point. 

If Gabriel found out what she was doing he would be furious, but she knew this was the right thing to do.

Because she loved him.


End file.
